Transistors comprising high-K metal gate electrode structures and embedded strain-inducing semiconductor alloys formed in a late stage

ABSTRACT

In sophisticated semiconductor devices, replacement gate approaches may be applied in combination with a process strategy for implementing a strain-inducing semiconductor material, wherein superior proximity of the strain-inducing semiconductor material and/or superior robustness of the replacement gate approach may be achieved by forming the initial gate electrode structures with superior uniformity and providing at least one cavity for implementing the strained channel regions in a very advanced manufacturing stage, i.e., after completing the basic transistor configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 13/117,249,filed May 27, 2011, which claims priority from German Patent ApplicationNo. 10 2010 038 737.1, filed Jul. 30, 2010.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Generally, the present disclosure relates to the fabrication ofsophisticated integrated circuits including transistor elementscomprising high-k metal gate electrode structures.

2. Description of the Related Art

The fabrication of advanced integrated circuits, such as CPUs, storagedevices, ASICs (application specific integrated circuits) and the like,requires the formation of a large number of circuit elements on a givenchip area according to a specified circuit layout, wherein field effecttransistors represent one important type of circuit element thatsubstantially determines performance of the integrated circuits.Generally, a plurality of process technologies are currently practiced,wherein, for many types of complex circuitry including field effecttransistors, CMOS technology is one of the most promising approaches dueto the superior characteristics in view of operating speed and/or powerconsumption and/or cost efficiency. During the fabrication of complexintegrated circuits using, for instance, CMOS technology, millions oftransistors, i.e., N-channel transistors and P-channel transistors, areformed on a substrate including a crystalline semiconductor layer. Afield effect transistor, irrespective of whether an N-channel transistoror a P-channel transistor is considered, typically comprises so-calledPN junctions represented by an interface that is formed by highly dopedregions, referred to as drain and source regions, and by a slightlydoped or non-doped region, such as a channel region, disposed adjacentto the highly doped regions.

In a field effect transistor, the conductivity of the channel region,i.e., the drive current capability of the conductive channel, iscontrolled by a gate electrode formed adjacent to the channel region andseparated therefrom by a thin insulating layer. The conductivity of thechannel region, upon formation of a conductive channel due to theapplication of an appropriate control voltage to the gate electrode,depends on, among other things, the electronic characteristics of thechannel regions, such as dopant concentration and band gap, the mobilityof the charge carriers and, for a given extension of the channel regionin the transistor width direction, on the distance between the sourceand drain regions, which is also referred to as channel length. Hence,the conductivity of the channel region substantially affects theperformance of MOS transistors.

Presently, the vast majority of integrated circuits are based on silicondue to substantially unlimited availability, the well-understoodcharacteristics of silicon and related materials and processes and theexperience gathered during the last 50 years. Therefore, silicon willlikely remain the base material of choice for future circuit generationsdesigned for mass products. One reason for the importance of silicon infabricating semiconductor devices has been the superior characteristicsof a silicon/silicon dioxide interface that allows reliable electricalinsulation of different regions from each other. The silicon/silicondioxide interface is stable at high temperatures and, thus, allowsperforming subsequent high temperature processes, as are required, forexample, for anneal cycles to activate dopants and to cure crystaldamage without sacrificing the electrical characteristics of theinterface.

For the reasons pointed out above, in field effect transistors, silicondioxide is preferably used as a base material of a gate insulation layerthat separates the gate electrode, frequently comprised of polysiliconor metal-containing materials, from the silicon channel region. Insteadily improving device performance of field effect transistors, thelength of the channel region has been continuously decreased to improveswitching speed and drive current capability. It turns out thatdecreasing the channel length requires an increased capacitive couplingbetween the gate electrode and the channel region to avoid the so-calledshort channel behavior during transistor operation. Thus, the thicknessof the silicon dioxide layer has to be correspondingly reduced toprovide the required capacitance between the gate and the channelregion. For example, a channel length of approximately 0.08 μm mayrequire a gate dielectric made of silicon dioxide as thin asapproximately 1.2 nm. Although, generally, usage of high speedtransistor elements having an extremely short channel may besubstantially restricted to high speed signal paths, whereas transistorelements with a longer channel may be used for less critical signalpaths, the relatively high leakage current caused by direct tunneling ofcharge carriers through an ultra-thin silicon dioxide gate insulationlayer may reach values for an oxide thickness in the range of 1-2 nmthat may not be compatible with thermal design power requirements formany types of integrated circuits.

Therefore, replacing silicon dioxide based dielectrics, at least inpart, as the material for gate insulation layers has been considered,particularly for extremely thin silicon dioxide based gate layers.Possible alternative materials include materials that exhibit asignificantly higher permittivity so that a physically greater thicknessof a correspondingly formed gate insulation layer provides a capacitivecoupling that would otherwise be obtained by an extremely thin silicondioxide layer.

Additionally, transistor performance may be increased by providing anappropriate conductive material for the gate electrode so as to replacethe usually used polysilicon material, at least in the vicinity of thegate dielectric material, since polysilicon may suffer from chargecarrier depletion at the vicinity of the interface to the gatedielectric, thereby reducing the effective capacitance between thechannel region and the gate electrode. Thus, a gate stack has beensuggested in which a high-k dielectric material provides enhancedcapacitance based on the same thickness as a silicon dioxide basedlayer, while additionally maintaining leakage currents at an acceptablelevel. On the other hand, the non-polysilicon material, such as titaniumnitride and the like, in combination with other metals, may be formed soas to connect to the high-k dielectric material, thereby substantiallyavoiding the presence of a depletion zone and providing superiorconductivity compared to the doped polysilicon material. Since thethreshold voltage of the transistors, which represents the voltage atwhich a conductive channel forms in the channel region, is significantlydetermined by the work function of the metal-containing gate material,an appropriate adjustment of the effective work function with respect tothe conductivity type of the transistor under consideration and theperformance characteristics thereof has to be guaranteed when usingmetal-containing electrode materials.

Providing different metal species for adjusting the work function of thegate electrode structures for P-channel transistors and N-channeltransistors at an earlier manufacturing stage may, however, beassociated with a plurality of difficulties arising from the fact that acomplex patterning sequence may be required during the formation of thesophisticated high-k metal gate stack. For this reason, significantvariations of the resulting work functions and thus threshold voltagesof the completed transistor structures may be generated. In otherapproaches, so-called replacement gate approaches, the gate electrodestructures are provided with a high degree of compatibility withconventional patterning regimes, for instance based on polysilicon, andthe high-k dielectric material and the metal-containing materials foradjusting the appropriate work functions and providing a highconductivity are incorporated in a very late manufacturing stage, i.e.,after completing the basic transistor structure and thus after any hightemperature processes, thereby avoiding many of the problems of processstrategies in which the sensitive high-k materials in combination withthe metal-containing electrode materials are provided in an earlymanufacturing stage.

In addition to providing sophisticated high-k metal gate electrodestructures, other mechanisms are typically implemented in transistors inorder to increase the overall performance, for instance, in terms of theelectronic characteristics of the channel region. For example, it iswell known that the charge carrier mobility in the channel region may beefficiently modified by inducing a strained state therein, which may beaccomplished by various strain-inducing mechanisms, such as providing anembedded strained semiconductor material in the drain and sourceregions, thereby inducing a desired strain component in the channelregion.

The approach of providing an embedded strain-inducing semiconductormaterial in the active regions of the transistors is typicallyimplemented by forming cavities in the active regions adjacent to thegate electrode structures and providing a desired semiconductor alloy,such as silicon/germanium, silicon/carbon and the like, by usingselective epitaxial growth techniques, wherein the material compositionand the offset of the grown semiconductor alloy substantially determinesthe finally obtained strain component in the channel region of thetransistor devices. Due to providing the strain-inducing semiconductoralloy in a relatively early manufacturing stage, i.e., after patterningthe replacement gate electrode structure and prior to forming any drainand source regions of the transistors, the relatively complex process offorming the embedded strain-inducing semiconductor alloy and the complexprocess of providing sophisticated high-k metal gate electrodestructures on the basis of a replacement gate approach may be consideredas independent process modules, each of which may add a significantdegree of complexity to the overall process flow and may provide certainadvantages in overall performance of the transistors, as discussedabove. Consequently, in conventional process strategies using embeddedstrain-inducing semiconductor materials in combination withsophisticated replacement gate approaches, many additional process stepsmay have to be applied, wherein a non-related application of theseadditional process steps, as is the case in conventional processstrategies, may fail to fully exploit the potential of the performanceenhancing effects of the above-described mechanisms, thereby resultingin less optimal transistor devices.

The present disclosure is directed to various methods and devices thatmay avoid, or at least reduce, the effects of one or more of theproblems identified above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. Thissummary is not an exhaustive overview of the invention. It is notintended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or todelineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to presentsome concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is discussed later.

Generally, the present disclosure provides semiconductor devices andmanufacturing techniques in which an embedded strain-inducingsemiconductor material may be provided in sophisticated transistorelements on the basis of manufacturing strategies which may becorrelated with manufacturing steps for providing a high-k metal gateelectrode structure on the basis of a replacement gate approach. In thismanner, pronounced synergy effects may be achieved when formingsophisticated transistor devices, thereby enhancing performance and/orproduction efficiency of complex semiconductor devices. To this end, theconfiguration of the semiconductor device, after completing the basictransistor configuration and prior to actually forming at least themetal-containing electrode material in the gate electrode structure, maybe used for forming one or more cavities in the active region of thetransistors in order to form a semiconductor material by selectiveepitaxial growth techniques, which may result in a superior straincomponent within a portion of the active region. For example, in someillustrative embodiments disclosed herein, the gate electrode structuremay be provided on a strained semiconductor material of the activeregion and a portion of the strained material may be removed by means ofa gate opening that is obtained upon removing a placeholder material,such as a polysilicon material. Consequently, the resulting cavity maybe refilled, at least partially, by a desired semiconductor material,such as a silicon material, which may thus be regrown on the basis of astrained state due to the adjacent strain-inducing semiconductormaterial, thereby providing precise alignment of the newly-grownsemiconductor material with respect to the gate electrode structure,while also a desired high strain may be achieved due to the closeproximity of the strain-inducing material and the regrown semiconductormaterial. Furthermore, the regrown semiconductor material may haveincorporated therein a desired dopant species or any other atomicspecies for further adjusting the electronic characteristics of acentral portion of the active region. For example, additional welldopant species and channel dopant species may be incorporated withoutcreating crystal damage, as may typically be associated withconventional process techniques, in which implantation processes maytypically be applied. Furthermore, at any stage of the epitaxial growthprocess, a desired material composition of the regrown semiconductormaterial may be provided in order to obtain the desired electroniccharacteristics, for instance in terms of threshold voltage and thelike. For example, a certain adjustment of energy level of a materiallayer that may immediately be in contact with a gate dielectric materialmay be adjusted on the basis of the selective epitaxial growth processin a final step thereof. Consequently, the strain-inducing semiconductormaterial may be provided at any appropriate manufacturing stage, forinstance prior to forming any gate electrode structures, by using anyappropriate process techniques, such as recessing the initialsemiconductor layer at specific areas and refilling the recesses by anyappropriate strain-inducing semiconductor material, such assilicon/germanium, silicon/carbon and the like. In other cases, stressmemorization techniques may be applied locally in order to form areas ofsignificant internal strain, while, in still other cases, even globallystrained semiconductor layers may be used, if considered appropriate.

In other illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, cavities may beprovided in the active regions of transistors on the basis ofreplacement gate approaches prior to actually implementing themetal-containing electrode material, wherein the cavities may be formedon the basis of contact openings formed in a dielectric material thatlaterally encloses the gate electrode structures. In the cavities and atleast a portion of the contact openings, a desired semiconductormaterial may be provided on the basis of selective epitaxial growthtechniques, which may provide a high strain component in the activeregion and, if desired, may provide superior contact characteristics inthe contact openings, for instance by enabling an efficient silicidationprocess. Also in this case, any appropriate dopant species may beimplemented during at least certain phases of selective epitaxial growthprocesses. Thereafter, the placeholder material, such as the polysiliconmaterial, may be replaced by at least a metal-containing electrodematerial, wherein the presence of the contact elements may providesuperior process conditions, for instance, with respect to exposing thepolysilicon surface, enabling a dedicated adjustment of the final heightof the replacement gate electrode structures and the like. Consequently,also in this case, superior performance and/or superior processefficiency may be accomplished by “combining” the implementation of astrain-inducing semiconductor alloy in the active regions of transistorsand providing sophisticated high-k metal gate electrode structures onthe basis of a replacement gate approach.

One illustrative semiconductor device disclosed herein comprises asemiconductor region comprising an embedded strain-inducingsemiconductor alloy that is formed at least partially in drain andsource regions. The semiconductor device further comprises a gateelectrode structure formed on a portion of the semiconductor region andcomprising a metal-containing electrode material and a high-k dielectricmaterial. Furthermore, the semiconductor device comprises contact areasformed above the strain-inducing semiconductor alloy and comprising ametal silicide having a top surface at a height that substantiallycorresponds to a height of a top surface of the metal-containingelectrode material.

A further illustrative semiconductor device disclosed herein comprises asemiconductor region of a first transistor comprising a strain-inducingsemiconductor alloy and a strained semiconductor material that islaterally enclosed by the strain-inducing semiconductor alloy, whereinthe strained semiconductor material and the strain-inducingsemiconductor alloy differ in their material compositions. Thesemiconductor device further comprises a gate electrode structure formedon a portion of the semiconductor region and comprising ametal-containing electrode material, a high-k dielectric material and aspacer structure that is aligned to the strained semiconductor material.

In yet another illustrative embodiment, a semiconductor device isdisclosed that includes an isolation structure laterally isolating anactive region of the semiconductor device and a plurality of transistorelements positioned in and above the active region, each of theplurality of transistor elements having a gate electrode structure thatincludes a high-k gate dielectric material and a metal-containingelectrode material. The illustrative semiconductor device furtherincludes, among other things, a plurality of material regions, eachincluding a lower strain-inducing portion that is embedded in one of asource region and a drain region of a respective one of the plurality oftransistor elements, wherein the lower strain-inducing portion includesa first semiconductor material. Additionally, each of the plurality ofmaterial regions also includes an upper contact portion that extendsabove the active region, the upper contact portion including a secondsemiconductor material and a metal silicide, wherein a height level of atop surface of the upper contact portion substantially corresponds to aheight level of a top surface of the metal-containing electrodematerial.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIGS. 1 a-1 p schematically illustrate cross-sectional views of asemiconductor device during various manufacturing stages, wherein one ormore strain-inducing semiconductor alloys may be provided laterallyhomogeneously in active regions of transistors in an early manufacturingstage, i.e., prior to providing gate electrode structures, while astrained central portion of the active regions and thus the channelregions may be provided in a late manufacturing stage on the basis of agate opening that is provided upon removing a placeholder material of agate electrode structure based on a replacement gate approach, accordingto illustrative embodiments; and

FIGS. 2 a-2 k schematically illustrate cross-sectional views of asemiconductor device during various manufacturing stages, in which astrain-inducing semiconductor alloy may be formed on the basis ofcontact openings that may be provided prior to replacing a placeholdermaterial with at least a metal-containing electrode material, accordingto further illustrative embodiments.

While the subject matter disclosed herein is susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof havebeen shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein ofspecific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to theparticular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below.In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementationare described in this specification. It will of course be appreciatedthat in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerousimplementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve thedevelopers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related andbusiness-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation toanother. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effortmight be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routineundertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure.

The present subject matter will now be described with reference to theattached figures. Various structures, systems and devices areschematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation onlyand so as to not obscure the present disclosure with details that arewell known to those skilled in the art. Nevertheless, the attacheddrawings are included to describe and explain illustrative examples ofthe present disclosure. The words and phrases used herein should beunderstood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with theunderstanding of those words and phrases by those skilled in therelevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., adefinition that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning asunderstood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied byconsistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a termor phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning otherthan that understood by skilled artisans, such a special definition willbe expressly set forth in the specification in a definitional mannerthat directly and unequivocally provides the special definition for theterm or phrase.

The present disclosure provides semiconductor devices and manufacturingtechniques in which sophisticated replacement gate approaches andprocesses for providing an embedded strain-inducing semiconductormaterial in the active regions of transistors may be appropriately“correlated” or “combined” in order to provide superior deviceperformance and/or manufacturing efficiency. To this end, thereplacement gate electrode structure, i.e., the gate electrode structureprior to providing at least the metal-containing electrode material, maybe used for forming at least one cavity in the active region of thetransistor under consideration in order to obtain, after refilling theat least one cavity, at least partially, by any appropriatesemiconductor material, a desired high strain component in the centralportion and thus in the channel region of the transistor underconsideration. In some aspects, this may be accomplished by providing alaterally homogeneously formed strain-inducing semiconductor alloy, suchas a silicon/germanium material, a silicon/carbon material and the like,in the active regions of P-channel transistors and/or N-channeltransistors in a very early manufacturing stage, thereby providingsuperior process conditions and enhanced process efficiency, sincecorresponding gate electrode structures may be formed in a latermanufacturing stage, thereby avoiding complex processes for coveringgate electrode structures. On the other hand, a cavity may be formed onthe basis of a gate opening obtained during a replacement gate approachso that a precisely aligned portion of the previously providedstrain-inducing semiconductor alloy may be removed and may be replacedby any appropriate semiconductor material, which may thus have thedesired overall electronic characteristics and which may also have asignificant strain component due to the close proximity of thepreviously provided strain-inducing semiconductor alloy. In someillustrative embodiments, active regions with different strain-inducingmaterials may be provided in an early manufacturing stage, and thecavities and semiconductor materials may be formed on the basis of acommon process sequence, thereby obtaining a different type of strain inthe different active regions, while nevertheless providing a veryefficient process technique. Furthermore, upon controlling the selectiveepitaxial growth process for filling the central cavity in the variousactive regions, a certain degree of well doping, at least for one typeof transistor, may be implemented, while, in other cases, the effectivechannel length may be adjusted, for instance by refilling the centralcavity only partially to a specific height prior to forming a gatedielectric material and a metal-containing electrode material.

In still other illustrative embodiments disclosed herein, thestrain-inducing semiconductor alloy may be provided in a very latemanufacturing stage, i.e., upon forming contact openings in a portion ofthe interlayer dielectric material prior to actually performing thereplacement gate approach. In some cases, the contact openings may beprovided differently for transistors of different conductivity type,thereby efficiently allowing the implementation of different types ofstrain-inducing semiconductor alloys, while also enabling a dedicatedadaptation of the material in terms of dopant concentration, materialcomposition, fill height and the like. Thereafter, the contact elements,which may comprise, for instance, a metal silicide, may be efficientlyused for providing superior process conditions during the subsequentreplacement gate approach, for instance by exposing the placeholdermaterial, defining a desired height of the high-k metal gate electrodestructures and the like.

With reference to FIGS. 1 a-1 p, illustrative embodiments will now bedescribed in which one or more strain-inducing semiconductor materialsmay be provided in active regions of transistors prior to forming a gateelectrode structure, wherein the actual strained semiconductor materialhaving the desired electronic characteristics for a channel region maybe provided in a very late manufacturing stage, i.e., upon performing areplacement gate approach.

FIG. 1 a schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of asemiconductor device 100 comprising a substrate 101 and a semiconductorlayer 102, such as a silicon layer and the like. The semiconductor layer102 and the substrate 101 may form a “bulk” configuration, wherein thesemiconductor material of the layer 102 represents a portion of acrystalline substrate material of the substrate 101. In otherillustrative embodiments, a buried insulating material (not shown) maybe provided between the substrate 101 and the semiconductor layer 102,thereby forming an SOI (silicon-on-insulator) configuration.Furthermore, in the manufacturing stage shown, a mask 103, which mayalso be referred to as a hard mask, may be provided above thesemiconductor layer 102 and may have any appropriate configuration so asto withstand the conditions during the further processing upon formingone or more strain-inducing semiconductor materials in dedicated areasof the semiconductor layer 102. For example, the hard mask 103 may becomprised of silicon nitride, possibly in combination with a thin etchstop material, such as a silicon dioxide material (not shown) and thelike. Furthermore, an etch mask 104, such as a resist mask, may beprovided above the hard mask 103 and may be patterned so as to grosslydefine the lateral size and position of one or more active regions 105A,105B. In this respect, it should be appreciated that the term “grossly”is to be understood as describing the lateral size and position ofactive regions in combination with any additional isolation structures,which may be provided in a later manufacturing stage so as to actuallydefine the size and position of the active regions 105A, 105B within thesemiconductor layer 102. It should further be appreciated that the areas105A, 105B may correspond to active regions of transistors of differentconductivity type so that, for instance, the active region 105A maycorrespond to one or more N-channel transistors, while the active region105B may correspond to one or more P-channel transistors. It should beappreciated, however, that the principles disclosed herein may apply toany type of transistors and may also be applied to dedicated transistorsof the device 100, such as N-channel transistors or P-channeltransistors or selected N-channel and P-channel transistors, and thelike.

The semiconductor device 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1 a may be formed onthe basis of the following processes. The hard mask 103 may be formed onthe basis of well-established deposition techniques, such as thermallyactivated chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced CVD and thelike, for which a plurality of appropriate recipes are available in theart, for instance for forming silicon nitride material, siliconoxynitride and the like. Similarly, an etch stop material (not shown),if required, may be formed on the basis of oxidation, deposition and thelike. Thereafter, the etch mask 104 may be provided and may be patternedon the basis of appropriate lithography techniques.

FIG. 1 b schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 whenexposed to the reactive etch ambient of an etch process or processsequence 106. The etch process 106 may comprise appropriate etch stepsfor etching through the hard mask 103, for instance by using plasmaassisted etch recipes, wherein, for instance, silicon nitride may beetched selectively with respect to silicon, silicon dioxide and thelike. Consequently, during a first phase of the process 106 or duringthe first step, the hard mask 103 may be patterned in accordance withthe etch mask 104. Thereafter, the process or sequence 106 may becontinued by selecting an appropriate etch chemistry for etching intothe semiconductor layer 102, thereby forming a recess 102B therein. Tothis end, a plurality of well-established etch chemistries, for instancebased on plasma assisted recipes, are available to etch silicon materialin a highly controllable manner. During the etch process 106, when anSOI configuration is considered, i.e., when a buried insulating material(not shown) may be provided below the semiconductor layer 102, aremaining material layer 102D may be preserved so as to provide anappropriate “seed” layer for a subsequent selective epitaxial growthprocess. For example, the remaining material 102D may be preserved witha thickness of 5-20 nm or higher, depending on process and devicespecifics.

FIG. 1 c schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage. As illustrated, after the removalof the etch mask 104 (FIG. 1 b) and performing any cleaning processesfor providing superior surface conditions, the device 100 may be exposedto a selective epitaxial growth process 107. As is well known, during aselective epitaxial growth process, the process parameters may beselected such that a significant material deposition occurs on exposedsurface areas of the seed material only, while any pronounced materialdeposition on other surface areas, such as the hard mask 103, may besuppressed. Consequently, during the process 107 a desiredstrain-inducing semiconductor alloy may be growth within the recess 102Bbased on the remaining material layer 102D, which may thus provide thedesired lattice mismatch between a strain-inducing semiconductor alloy107B and the material of the layer 102, thereby obtaining the desiredhigh strained state of the material 107B. It should be appreciated thatthe material 107B may also be referred to as a strain-inducingsemiconductor material, since it may induce a desired type of strain indedicated portions of the active region 105B in a later manufacturingstage in order to enhance performance of one or more transistors byincreasing charge carrier mobility in the corresponding channel regions,as is also explained above. For example, the material 107B may comprisea silicon/germanium mixture or alloy, wherein the germanium fraction maybe up to 30 atomic percent or higher, which may result in a pronouncedstrained state. In other cases, other atomic species, such as tin andthe like, may be incorporated into the material 107B, if consideredappropriate. The strain material 107B may thus be provided as alaterally homogeneous material within the active region 105B, contraryto conventional approaches, in which typically an embeddedstrain-inducing semiconductor material may be provided in correspondingcavities formed laterally adjacent to a gate electrode structure. Thus,in general, superior process conditions may be accomplished upon formingthe material 107B, due to superior surface topography of the device 100and the like.

FIG. 1 d schematically illustrates the device 100 in a further advancedmanufacturing stage in which a further etch mask 108, such as a resistmask, may be provided so as to expose a portion of the hard mask 103,which may approximately correspond to the active region 105A. To thisend, any well-established lithography techniques may be applied.

FIG. 1 e schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 whenexposed to a reactive etch ambient of a process or process sequence 109.During the process 109, the hard mask 103 may be patterned on the basisof the etch mask 108 (FIG. 1 d) and thereafter the etch process may becontinued by etching into the semiconductor layer 102, thereby forming arecess 102A therein. With respect to any characteristics of the etchprocess 109, the same criteria may apply as previously explained withreference to the etch process 106 of FIG. 1 b. Also in this case, afteropening the hard mask 103, a highly controllable etch step may beapplied during the process 109, thereby enabling a desired adjustment ofthe depth of the recess 102A and thus a thickness of the remainingsemiconductor material 102D. It should be appreciated that, if desired,the material 102D may be provided with different thicknesses in therecesses 102A, 102B if considered advantageous in view of the furtherprocessing and the finally obtained device characteristics.

FIG. 1 f schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage. As illustrated, the device 100 isexposed to a selective deposition ambient 110 in order to selectivelydeposit material within the recess 102A (FIG. 1 e) substantially withoutdepositing any material on the exposed strained material 107B and anydielectric surface areas, such as surface areas of the hard mask 103.For example, during the process 110, a second type of strainedsemiconductor material 110A may be deposited, for instance in the formof a silicon/carbon mixture and the like, which may provide a differenttype of strained state compared to the material 107B. In otherillustrative embodiments (not shown), when the selectivity between theseed material 102D in the active region 105A is considered insufficientwith respect to the material 107B during the selective depositionprocess 110, a desired hard mask material may be formed, for instance byoxidation and the like, on the material 107B in a state when the hardmask 103 may still cover the active region 105A, as is for instanceshown in FIG. 1 c. For example, a thin oxide material may be formed onor within the material 107B prior to performing the selective epitaxialgrowth process 110. Thereafter, if required, the correspondingdeposition mask may be selectively removed from the material 107B by anyappropriate selective etch chemistry, for instance based on wet chemicaletch recipes and the like.

FIG. 1 g schematically illustrates the device 100 in a further advancedmanufacturing stage. As illustrated, after the removal of the hard mask103 (FIG. 1 f), a further mask 111 may be provided so as to define thelateral position and size of any isolation structures to be formed inthe semiconductor layer 102 and within the strained semiconductormaterials 107B, 110A. As illustrated, a plurality of trenches 111C maybe defined by the mask 111, which may comprise two or more individualmaterial layers, such as silicon dioxide, silicon nitride and the like.To this end, any well-established process strategies may be applied fordepositing appropriate materials and patterning the same on the basis ofsophisticated lithography techniques. Thereafter, the materials 110A,107B and 102 may be patterned on the basis of the mask 111, for instanceusing well-established anisotropic etch techniques for transferring thetrenches 111C into the underlying materials. Thereafter, an appropriateinsulating material, such as silicon dioxide and the like, may be filledinto the trenches and any excess material may be removed for instance bychemical mechanical polishing (CMP), followed by the removal of anyexcess material of the mask 111.

FIG. 1 h schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 aftercompleting the above-described process sequence. Consequently, the finallateral size and position of the active regions 105A, 105B may be nowdefined by shallow trench isolations 102C, which may be obtained on thebasis of the above-described process sequence.

FIG. 1 i schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 withsuperior surface topography, i.e., after performing a further CMPprocess in order to efficiently remove any extra height of the isolationstructure 102C. Consequently, in this manufacturing stage, thestrain-inducing materials 107B, 110A may be provided as laterallyhomogeneous materials having a substantially planar surface topography,while also the height of the shallow trench isolations 102C may besubstantially equal to the height of the materials 107B, 110A, therebyproviding superior process conditions for the further processing, i.e.,the deposition of gate materials and the patterning of these materials.

FIG. 1 j schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage. As shown, a first transistor 150A,such as an N-channel transistor, may be formed on the active region 105A(FIG. 1 i), that is, in and above the strain-inducing material 110A,while a second transistor 150B, such as a P-channel transistor, may beformed on the active region 105B (FIG. 10, that is, in and above thestrain-inducing material 107B. In the manufacturing stage shown, thetransistor 150A may comprise a gate electrode structure 120A, which maycomprise a “gate dielectric material” 122, for instance in the form of asilicon dioxide material, a silicon oxynitride material and the like,which is, however, to be replaced in a later manufacturing stage inorder to provide a gate dielectric layer including a high-k dielectricmaterial. Furthermore, a placeholder material 121, such as a polysiliconmaterial and the like, may be formed above the dielectric layer 122. Theplaceholder material 121 may, if required, comprise an additionaldielectric cap material (not shown), for instance in the form of silicondioxide, silicon nitride and the like. Furthermore, the gate electrodestructure 120A may comprise a spacer structure 123 having anyappropriate configuration in accordance with the overall device andprocess requirements. That is, a width and composition of the spacerstructure 123 may be selected such that a desired lateral and verticaldopant profile for drain and source regions 151 may be achieved. Itshould be appreciated that the spacer structure 123 may comprise anynumber of individual spacer elements, possibly in combination with anyetch stop materials and the like.

Similarly, a gate electrode structure 120B of the transistor 150B maycomprise basically the same components as the gate electrode structure120A, wherein superior uniformity may be achieved, for instance, withrespect to critical dimensions of the gate electrode structures 120A,120B and the like, due to the superior surface conditions and due to thevery symmetric process history of the gate electrode structures 120A,120B compared to conventional process strategies, in which increasedcomplexity may occur upon providing a strained semiconductor alloy afterforming the gate electrode structures 120A, 120B.

The semiconductor device 100 as shown in FIG. 1 j may be formed on thebasis of the following processes. Beginning with the configuration asshown in FIG. 1 i, the materials for the layers 122 and 121, incombination with any additional sacrificial materials, such as hard maskmaterials and the like, may be deposited on the basis ofwell-established deposition techniques, followed by a patterningsequence using sophisticated lithography and etch processes. In thismanner, the lateral dimensions of the gate electrode structures 120A,120B may be defined, for instance, with a critical dimension ofapproximately 50 nm and less, which may correspond basically to thehorizontal extension of the placeholder material 121 in FIG. 1 j,wherein it may be appreciated that the critical dimension may be furtherreduced during the further processing upon providing an appropriate gatedielectric material, as will be explained later on in more detail.Thereafter, appropriate dopant species may be incorporated into thematerials 110A, 107B by using appropriate masking regimes, while thespacer structure 123 may also be used as an implantation mask during anyintermediate manufacturing stage of the structure 123. It should beappreciated that the implantation parameters and the spacer structure123 may be designed so as to obtain, in combination with any subsequentanneal processes, a desired vertical and lateral dopant profile, whichmay also take into account the removal of a central portion of thematerials 107B, 110A in a further advanced manufacturing stage. That is,the drain and source regions 151 and any counterdoped areas or haloregions (not shown) may be provided such that an appropriate connectionof the drain and source region 151 to a channel region may beaccomplished, which may be provided in a later manufacturing stage uponreplacing a central portion of the materials 110A, 107B after theremoval of the placeholder material 121 of the gate electrode structures120A, 120B.

FIG. 1 k schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in amanufacturing stage in which an interlayer dielectric material 112 maybe provided so as to laterally enclose the gate electrode structures120A, 120B. The interlayer dielectric material 112 may be provided inthe form of one or more material layers, such as a silicon nitridematerial, a silicon dioxide material and the like, or any combinationthereof, depending on the overall process and device requirements. Insome illustrative embodiments, the interlayer dielectric material 112may comprise a highly stressed material portion in order to furtherincrease the total strain in one or both of the transistors 150A, 150B,which may be accomplished by selectively providing a highly stresseddielectric material in the vicinity of the transistor 150A and/orproviding a highly stressed dielectric material portion of a differenttype in the vicinity of the transistor 150B within the interlayerdielectric material 112.

The interlayer dielectric material 112 may be provided on the basis ofany well-established process strategies, for instance depositing asilicon nitride material, if required, followed by the deposition of asilicon dioxide material, which may represent a well-establishedinterlayer dielectric material. As discussed above, one or more of thesematerial layers may be provided in the form of a highly stressedmaterial, at least in the vicinity of one of the transistors 150A, 150B.To this end, well-established plasma enhanced CVD techniques may beapplied for forming a silicon nitride material having a high internaltensile or compressive stress, wherein an appropriate masking andpatterning regime may be applied so as to position the material havingthe desired stress component at the appropriate transistor for enhancingthe overall performance thereof. After providing the interlayerdielectric material 112, any excess portion thereof may be removed, forinstance by CMP, etching and the like, or a combination of any of theseprocess strategies, thereby finally exposing a top surface 121S of theplaceholder material 121. It should be appreciated that in some cases,as discussed above, the material 121 may comprise a dielectric capmaterial, which may also be exposed and be removed so as to finallyexpose the top surface 121S having the desired etch characteristics.Thereafter, a highly selective etch process 113 may be applied, forinstance based on plasma assisted processes and/or wet chemical etchprocesses, in order to remove the placeholder material 121 selectivelywith respect to the interlayer dielectric material 112 and the spacerstructure 123. For example, a plurality of very selective etchchemistries for removing polysilicon material are available. Forinstance, the etch process 113 may be performed on the basis oftetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) which may efficiently removesilicon material selectively with respect to silicon nitride, silicondioxide, metal silicides and the like. During the etch process 113, thedielectric layer 122, if provided, may be used as an efficient etch stopmaterial, which may then be removed on the basis of any appropriateselective etch recipe, such as hydrofluoric acid and the like.

FIG. 1 l schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage, in which gate openings 124 areprovided in the gate electrode structures 120A, 120B due to the removalof the materials 121 and 122 (FIG. 1 k) during the above-describedprocess sequence. Furthermore, the device 100 is exposed to a furtherreactive etch ambient 114, which is appropriately configured so as toremove exposed portions of the materials 107B, 110A. To this end, aplurality of selective etch recipes are available in which silicon-basedsemiconductor materials may be removed selectively with respect tosilicon dioxide, silicon nitride and the like. Thus, in someillustrative embodiments, the etch process 114 may be performed as ahighly anisotropic etch process so that the gate openings 124 may beused as efficient masks in order to appropriately align the advance ofthe etch process to the gate openings 124 and thus to the sidewallspacer structure 123.

FIG. 1 m schematically illustrates the device 100 in an advancedmanufacturing stage in which cavities 114A, 114B may be formed in theactive regions 105A, 105B, respectively, on the basis of the maskopenings 124. In the embodiment shown, the cavities 114A, 114B may havesubstantially the lateral dimensions of the mask openings 124 and thusof the lateral distance defined by the sidewall spacer structure 123,while a depth may be selected such that the cavities 114A, 114B mayextend into the remaining material 102D of the initial semiconductorlayer 102.

FIG. 1 n schematically illustrates the device 100 during a furtherselective epitaxial growth process 115C, in which a semiconductormaterial 115 is formed in the cavities 114A, 114B (FIG. 1 m) through thegate openings 124. The semiconductor material 115 may be formed as astrained semiconductor material, for instance in the form of a siliconbase material, which may have an internal strain component that isdetermined by the surrounding materials 110A and 107B, respectively.During the selective epitaxial growth process 115C, process parametersmay be selected in accordance with well-established recipes such that asignificant deposition may occur on horizontal surface areas of theremaining semiconductor material 102, which may be crystal (100)surface, corresponding to a standard crystallographic configuration ofsilicon-based semiconductor devices, thereby obtaining a very similargrowth rate for the transistors 150A, 150B, respectively. Hence, thedesired fill height of the material 115 may be controlled so as to besubstantially identical in the transistors 150A, 150B, thereby enablingthe adjustment of the finally achieved channel length of the transistors150A, 150B during the common selective deposition process 115C. Forexample, in the embodiment shown, the semiconductor material 115 may beprovided with a fill height which may substantially correspond to theinitial height of the materials 110A, 107B, respectively, therebyobtaining a final channel length, which may substantially correspond tothe critical dimensions of the gate openings 124 plus an extra width,which may be contributed by a gate dielectric material still to beformed in the gate opening 124. In other cases, the fill height of thematerial 115 may be less than shown in FIG. 1 n, thereby effectivelyincreasing the resulting channel length. It should be appreciated that,during the selective epitaxial growth process 115C, an additional dopantspecies or other atomic species may also be incorporated into thematerial 115, if considered appropriate. For example, in illustrativeembodiments (not shown), the process 115C may be performed for one typeof transistors and thus any well dopant species and/or channel dopantspecies may be incorporated in order to obtain the desired electroniccharacteristics of the material 115 and thus of a corresponding channelregion. On the other hand, any other transistors may be appropriatelymasked by a hard mask material, if a corresponding in situ dopedmaterial 115 may be considered inappropriate for the masked transistors.Thereafter, a corresponding sequence may be applied by replacing thepreviously provided hard mask with another mask in order to refill anyfurther cavities with an appropriately designed semiconductor material.It should further be appreciated that not necessarily each of thetransistors 150A, 150B may have provided therein the strain-inducingmaterials 107B, 110A. In this case, the material 115 may be provided fora strain-inducing material in a substantially stress neutral activeregion, while, in other illustrative embodiments, the strain-inducingsemiconductor material may be provided in one type of transistor, suchas the N-channel transistor 150A, in the form of a strained siliconmaterial, which may be obtained on the basis of stress memorizationtechniques (SMT), in which a substantially amorphous silicon material inthe drain and source areas may be re-crystallized in the presence of anoverlayer, such as a silicon nitride layer, thereby causing the siliconmaterial to regrow in a substantially tensile strained state, which mayalso be preserved upon removing the overlayer completely or partially.

FIG. 1 o schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage. As illustrated, a hard mask 116may be provided so as to cover the transistor 150B while exposing thetransistor 150A. Moreover, a gate dielectric layer 125A may be formed onthe interlayer dielectric material 112 and the hard mask 116 and withinthe gate electrode structure 120A. Thus, the gate dielectric layer 125Amay also be formed on the previously formed strained semiconductormaterial 115, a portion of which, indicated by 152, may be considered asa channel region. The gate dielectric layer 125A may be comprised of anyappropriate dielectric material including a high-k dielectric material,which is to be understood as a dielectric material having a dielectricconstant of 10.0 and higher. For example, a plurality of metal oxidesmay have a moderately high permittivity and may be used as high-kdielectric materials, for instance in the form of hafnium oxide, hafniumsilicon oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide and the like. In someillustrative embodiments, the gate dielectric layer 125A may alsocomprise a “conventional” dielectric material, for instance in the formof a silicon oxide material, a silicon oxynitride material and the like,if superior interface characteristics with respect to the channel region152 are considered appropriate. The gate dielectric layer 125A may beprovided such that a desired high capacity for coupling may beaccomplished, while at the same time a sufficient physical thickness maykeep the resulting leakage currents at an acceptable level. Moreover, ametal-containing electrode material 126A may be provided, for instancein the form of titanium nitride, tantalum nitride, aluminum and thelike, wherein the layer 126A may also have incorporated therein anappropriate metal species, which may result in a desired work functionof the gate electrode structure 120A. Moreover, a highly conductive gatemetal 127A, such as aluminum, aluminum alloys and the like, may beprovided above the layer 126A. It should be appreciated that the layerstack 125A, 162A, 127A may represent any appropriate material system forproviding the components of a sophisticated high-k metal gate electrodestructure. The material system 125A, 126A, 127A may be formed on thebasis of any appropriate deposition techniques, such as atomic layerdeposition (ALD), sputter deposition, CVD, electrochemical deposition,for instance for the material 127A, and the like. After the depositionof the materials 125A, 126A, 127A, any excess portion thereof may beremoved, for instance by first performing a CMP process for providing asuperior surface topography, and thereafter performing a selective etchprocess, for instance by using selective wet chemical etch recipes andthe like. Thereafter, the hard mask 116 may be removed, for instance byany appropriate selective etch process, wherein the materials 127A, 126Aand 125A may have a significantly reduced etch rate, thereby acting asetch stop materials. Consequently, integrity of the gate electrodestructure 120A may be preserved during the removal of the hard mask 116.

FIG. 1 p schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage. As shown, a further hard mask 117may cover the transistor 150A comprising the gate electrode structure120A, which now represents a sophisticated high-k metal gate electrodestructure including the components described above with reference toFIG. 1 o. Furthermore, the gate electrode structure 120B of thetransistor 150B may comprise a gate dielectric layer 125B, representinga high-k dielectric material, possibly in combination with aconventional dielectric material, as discussed above, a metal-containingelectrode material 126B and a highly conductive electrode material 127B.The materials 125B, 126B, 127B may be deposited on the basis of similarprocess strategies as described above with reference to the gateelectrode structure 120A. It should be appreciated that, for example,the materials 125A and 125B may have substantially the sameconfiguration, except for any work function adjusting species, which maybe incorporated therein, for instance, by any preceding heat treatmentand the like. Similarly, the highly conductive metal 127A, 127B may havesubstantially the same material composition, while, if required, thematerials 126A, 126B may differ in order to adjust the appropriate workfunction of the gate electrode structures 120A, 120B. After thedeposition of the materials of the gate electrode structure 120B, anyexcess part may be removed, for instance as described above, andthereafter the hard mask 117 may be removed by using any selective etchrecipes and the like.

Consequently, one or both of the transistors 150A, 150B may be providedwith the channel region 152 formed in the strained semiconductormaterial 115, which may have a high internal strain due to the closeproximity to the materials 107B, 110A, respectively. Moreover, thetransistors 150A, 150B, and in particular the gate electrode structures120A, 120B, may be provided in an early manufacturing stage on the basisof superior process conditions due to the substantially planar surfacetopography due to the incorporation of the strain-inducing materials110A, 107B in an early manufacturing stage, i.e., prior to actuallyforming the shallow trench isolations 102C, thereby avoiding pronouncedtopography modifications of the isolation structures 102C, which mayconventionally be caused by the processing for incorporating an embeddedstrain-inducing semiconductor alloy.

With reference to FIGS. 2 a-2 k, further illustrative embodiments willnow be described in more detail, wherein cavities for incorporating astrain-inducing semiconductor alloy may be provided in a very latemanufacturing stage.

FIG. 2 a schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of asemiconductor device 200 comprising a substrate 201 and a semiconductorlayer 202, wherein the substrate 201 and the layer 202 may represent anSOI configuration or a bulk configuration, as is also previouslyexplained with reference to the semiconductor device 100. Moreover, inthe manufacturing stage shown, the semiconductor layer 202 may comprisean isolation structure 202C, such as a shallow trench isolation, whichmay define the lateral position and size of active regions in thesemiconductor layer 202, such as an active region 205B. Generally, anactive region is to be understood as a semiconductor region, in andabove which one or more transistor elements are to be formed. In theexample shown in FIG. 2 a, the active region 205B may be appropriatelyconfigured so as to accommodate a plurality of transistors 250B, such asP-channel transistors, while, in other cases, a single transistor may beformed in and above the active region 205B, as will also be describedlater on. The transistors 250B may comprise corresponding gate electrodestructures 220B, which in turn may include a dielectric material 222, aplaceholder material 221, for instance in the form of a polysiliconmaterial, possibly in combination with a dielectric cap material 228,such as a silicon nitride material, a silicon dioxide material and thelike. Furthermore, gate electrode structures 220B may comprise a spacerstructure 223, which may be used for defining the lateral and verticaldopant profile of drain and source regions 251 formed in the activeregion 205B. With respect to any critical dimensions of the gateelectrode structures 220B, the same criteria may apply as previouslydiscussed with reference to the semiconductor device 100. It shouldfurther be appreciated that the gate electrode structures 220B, and, ifdesired, any other gate electrode structures, may be formed on the basisof superior process conditions, since any strain-inducing semiconductormaterial may be formed in a later manufacturing stage.

Moreover, in the manufacturing stage shown, an interlayer dielectricmaterial 212 may be provided so as to laterally enclose the gateelectrode structures 220B. For example, in the embodiment shown, theinterlayer dielectric material 212 may comprise a first dielectric layer212A, such as a silicon nitride layer, which may be provided with a highinternal stress level, if desired. Moreover, a second dielectric layer212B, such as a silicon dioxide material, may be provided. With respectto any process strategies for forming the transistors 250B and the gateelectrode structures 220B, it may be referred to the correspondingprocess strategies described above with respect to the semiconductordevice 100. After completing the basic transistor configuration, theinterlayer dielectric material 212 may be formed and an excess portionthereof may be removed, for instance by CMP, thereby providing asubstantially planarized surface topography and also exposing thedielectric cap layers 228.

FIG. 2 b schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage, in which an etch mask 218, such asa resist mask, a hard mask or any combination thereof, may be provided,wherein mask openings 218A may define the lateral size and position ofcontact openings to be formed in the interlayer dielectric material 212for the transistors 250B. That is, in some illustrative embodiments, themask 218 may be formed so as to cover other transistors, such asN-channel transistors and the like, while specifically providing themask openings 218A for the transistors 250B.

FIG. 2 c schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 duringan etch process 219 that may be performed on the basis of the etch mask218 in order to form contact openings 219B in the interlayer dielectricmaterial 212B. To this end, any appropriate plasma assisted etch recipesmay be applied during the process 219, in which, for instance, silicondioxide material may be etched selectively with respect to siliconnitride material. Thus, the dielectric layer 212A may act as anefficient etch stop material. Consequently, for any contact openings219B formed between two of the gate electrode structures 220B, the etchprocess 219 may result in a self-aligned etch behavior due to the etchstop capabilities of the layer 212A.

FIG. 2 d schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 during afurther etch process 230, in which the material of the layer 212A may beetched so as to increase the depth of the contact openings 219B.Moreover, the etch process 230 may also comprise an etch step foretching into the active region 205B, thereby defining a verticalextension 219D of the contact openings 219B, with which the openings219B extend into the active region 205B. As previously explained withreference to the semiconductor device 100, a plurality of wellcontrollable plasma assisted etch recipes are available in order toremove silicon material, thereby providing a high degree of uniformityupon determining the vertical extension 219D. Thereafter, the etch mask218 may be removed, for instance by well-established resist stripprocesses or any other removal processes, as required for etching thematerial of the etch mask 218.

FIG. 2 e schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage, in which cavities 214B may beformed on the basis of an etch process, thereby using the contactopenings 219B as efficient mask openings. In some illustrativeembodiments, as shown, the etch process 214 may be performed on thebasis of a wet chemical etch recipe having a crystallographicallyanisotropic etch behavior. That is, a plurality of well-known etchrecipes are available, in which the etch rate may depend on thecrystallographic orientation of crystal planes. For example, specificetch recipes may be available, in which (111) crystallographic planesmay act as efficient etch stop planes, thereby obtaining aself-restricting lateral etch rate for a standard crystallographicconfiguration of the material of the active region 205B. In this case,the cavities 214B may be referred to as “sigma” shaped cavities havinginclined surface areas 214S, which may thus restrict the lateral etchrate and thus define the degree of under-etching of the gate electrodestructure 220B, i.e., of the spacer structure 223. Consequently, forgiven lateral dimensions of the gate electrode structures 220B and ofthe active region 205B, the cavities 214B having a well-defined degreeof under-etching may be provided, for instance by controlling the finaldepth of the contact openings 219B and using a crystallographicallyanisotropic etch chemistry. For example, TMAH may be efficiently usedfor anisotropically etching a silicon material with a high degree ofselectivity with respect to silicon dioxide, silicon nitride and thelike. In other illustrative embodiments, the cavities 214B may be formedwith a certain degree of under-etching by applying an isotropic etchchemistry, for instance a plasma assisted etch chemistry, a wet chemicaletch chemistry, wherein the lateral degree of under-etching may bedetermined by controlling the total etch time. Moreover, since thecavities 214B may be specifically designed so as to comply with therequirements of the transistors 250B, while other transistors may beefficiently covered by the non-patterned interlayer dielectric material212, the size and shape of the cavities 214B may also be selected so asto obtain the desired transistor characteristics upon refilling thecavities 214B with a desired strain-inducing semiconductor material,which may also comprise any dopant species and the like. For example,the cavities 214B may be selected in size and shape such that a desired“connection” to the remaining drain and source regions 251 may beobtained in view of the overall performance of the transistors 250B. Onthe other hand, a removal of any previously provided drain and sourcedopants by forming the cavities 214B may be less critical, since thecorresponding dopant species may be efficiently replaced during thesubsequent refilling of the cavities 214B, while, in other cases, even asuperior degree of dopant concentration with reduced lattice damage maybe achieved.

FIG. 2 f schematically illustrates the device 200 in a further advancedmanufacturing stage, i.e., during a selective epitaxial growth process207, during which at least the cavities 214B may be filled with astrain-inducing semiconductor material 207B, such as a silicon/germaniummixture, a silicon/carbon material and the like, depending on thedesired type of strain required for the transistors 250B. To this end,well-established deposition recipes may be applied for the process 207,as is also discussed above. Moreover, the selective epitaxial growthprocess 207 may also comprise one or more process phases, in which anextra part of semiconductor material may be provided within the contactopenings 219B, which may have the same composition as the material 207Bor which may differ from the material 207B in at least one materialcharacteristic. For example, in some illustrative embodiments, the extrapart 207C may be provided, at least in an upper portion thereof, so asto provide superior conditions during the subsequent processing, forinstance in terms of forming a metal silicide in the extra part 207C.For example, a significantly increased silicon fraction may be providedin the part 207C or a substantially pure silicon material may bedeposited. To this end, the process parameters may be appropriatelycontrolled during the deposition process 207 in order to obtain adesired material composition, wherein also a continuous transition inmaterial characteristic or a substantially step wise transition may beestablished, depending on the device requirements. For example, ifdesired, a moderately high germanium concentration may be provided forthe material 207B, possibly in combination with a moderately high dopantconcentration in order to provide high conductivity in combination witha highly strained state, which may thus efficiently act on a channelregion 252. Thereafter, the germanium concentration may be reduced orthe supply of any respective precursor gases may be discontinued,thereby forming the part 207C with a significantly reduced fraction ofgermanium, while nevertheless a high dopant concentration may beprovided so as to achieve a high conductivity of the part 207C, whichmay act as a contact element, possibly in combination with an additionalmetal silicide still to be formed. Furthermore, during the selectivedeposition process 207, a height level of the part 207C within thecontact openings 219B may be adjusted so as to determine a final heightof the gate electrode structures 220B after completing the replacementgate approach, as will be discussed later on in more detail.

Thereafter, the processing may be continued by forming an appropriatecontact mask so as to cover the transistors 250B while exposing othertransistors, such as n-channel transistors.

FIG. 2 g schematically illustrates the device 200, wherein an activeregion 205A comprises a plurality of transistors 250A and correspondinggate electrode structures 220A, which may have the same configuration asthe gate electrode structures 220B as previously described withreference to FIGS. 2 a-2 f. Moreover, as illustrated, contact openings219A may be provided in the interlayer dielectric material 212 and mayconnect to cavities 214A, which may have any appropriate size and shapein order to comply with the requirements of the transistors 250A, as isalso previously discussed above. The cavities 214A may have a certaindegree of under-etching, for instance obtained on the basis of acrystallographically anisotropic etch technique, as is also explainedbefore. Furthermore, the cavities 214A and at least a portion of thecontact openings 219A may be filled with a semiconductor material,wherein a portion 210A may represent a strain-inducing semiconductoralloy, such as a silicon/carbon alloy, if a tensile strain component isconsidered appropriate in a channel region 252 of the transistors 250A.Consequently, the semiconductor material 210A and material 210C may beprovided with an appropriate high dopant concentration so as to providesuperior conductivity. At the same time, the material composition may beappropriately selected so as to obtained the desired high straincomponent in the channel region 252, while at the same time the desiredsilicidation characteristics may be obtained for the portion 210C.

The semiconductor device 200 may be formed on the basis of the sameprocess strategy, as previously discussed, wherein, however, processparameters may be adapted so as to obtain the desired size and shape ofthe cavities 214A and obtain the materials 210A, 210C for the transistor250A having the desired characteristics. Thereafter, any hard maskmaterials, if provided for other transistors, may be removed and thefurther processing may be continued commonly for any type oftransistors.

FIG. 2 h schematically illustrates the device 200, wherein, forconvenience, the transistors 250A are illustrated only. As shown, ametal silicide 231S may be formed in the semiconductor material 210C andmay represent, in combination with the material portion, a contactelement 231. The metal silicide 231S may be formed by depositing anyappropriate refractory metal, such as nickel, platinum and the like, andinitiating a chemical reaction with the underlying silicon material ofthe portion 210C by performing a heat treatment. Consequently, duringthe silicidation process, a certain amount of silicon may be consumed inthe portion 210C, thereby forming the highly conductive metal silicidematerial 231S, wherein the degree of change in volume in the materialportion 210C due to the chemical reaction may be known in advance sothat the final height level of the contact elements 231, i.e., of thetop surface 231D of the metal silicide 231S, may be provided with a highdegree of controllability based on the initial height of thesemiconductor portion 210C and the selection of the process parametersof the silicidation process. As previously discussed, since thetransistors 250A and the transistors 250B (see FIG. 2 f) may receive thecorresponding semiconductor material in individual process sequences,also corresponding height levels of the top surfaces 231D may beadjusted individually, wherein, nevertheless, a high degree ofuniformity of the resulting process sequence may be achieved, forinstance during the silicidation, since very similar process conditionswith respect to silicon concentration and the like may be achieved bycontrolling the associated selective epitaxial growth processes, aspreviously discussed. Furthermore the metal silicide 231S may provide anappropriate stop material during the further processing, for instanceduring subsequent etch processes, CMP processes and the like, therebyproviding superior process efficiency and less critical processconditions.

FIG. 2 i schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 in afurther advanced manufacturing stage, wherein, for convenience, thetransistors 250A are illustrated, while it should be appreciated thatthe electrode structures of other transistors may be in a similarconfiguration as the gate electrode structures 220A. As illustrated,corresponding gate openings 224 may be provided in the gate electrodestructure 220A, wherein the lateral dimensions thereof may besubstantially determined by the spacer structure 223. The gate openings224 may be formed, starting from the configuration as shown in FIG. 2 h,by applying an etch chemistry for selectively removing silicon nitridematerial, thereby removing material of the dielectric layer 212A and thecap layer 228 (FIG. 2 h), while the metal silicide 231S may act as anefficient etch stop material. For this purpose, hot phosphoric acid andthe like may be applied. After exposing the placeholder material 221(FIG. 2 h), a further selective etch process may be applied so as toremove this material, for instance by using TMAH and the like, as isalso previously discussed with reference to the semiconductor device100. During this etch process, the material 222 may act as an efficientetch stop material. Based on the gate openings 224, the furtherprocessing may be continued by applying a desired type of replacementgate approach, wherein the dielectric material 221 may be removed, or atleast partially may be preserved, depending on the transistorcharacteristics. For example the dielectric material 222 may alreadycomprise a high-k dielectric material which may have been provided in anearly manufacturing stage. In other cases, a gate dielectric materialincluding a high-k dielectric material may be deposited on the basis ofwell-established process techniques, followed by the deposition of anyappropriate electrode material, such as titanium nitride, tantalumnitride and the like, which may also comprise a work function adjustingspecies that may be appropriate for one type of transistors. Thereafter,this material may be removed from other transistors, in which thepresence of the material may be considered inappropriate, by using anappropriate masking regime and an etch process, followed by thedeposition of another metal-containing electrode material, possibly incombination with a work function adjusting species. Finally, a desiredhighly conductive electrode metal may be deposited and any excessmaterial may be removed, for instance by CMP and the like.

FIG. 2 j schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 afterthe above described process sequence. As illustrated, a transistor 250Amay comprise the gate electrode structure 220A in the form of asophisticated high-k metal gate electrode structure. It should beappreciated that, for convenience, a single transistor 250A isillustrated to be provided in the active region 205A, wherein it shouldbe appreciated that two or more of the transistors 250A may be providedin a single active region, as is also previously described. The gateelectrode structure 220A may comprise a high-k dielectric material 225A,a first metal-containing electrode material 226A and a secondmetal-containing electrode material 227A, wherein it should beappreciated that any other appropriate material system may be appliedduring the preceding replacement gate processing. Similarly, thesematerials may also be formed above the contact element 231, i.e., abovemetal silicide material 231S, depending on the degree of recessing ofthe contact elements 231, which may in turn depend on the finallydesired height level of the gate electrode structure 220A, which may bedefined by the metal silicide material 231S, as will be explained lateron in more detail.

Similarly, the device 200 may comprise the transistors 250B, wherein,for convenience, a single transistor 250B is illustrated to be providedon the basis of the active region 205B. Also in this case, it should beappreciated that two or more of the transistors 250B may be formed inand above the active region 205B, as is discussed above. The gateelectrode structure 220B may comprise a gate dielectric material 225Bcomprising a high-k dielectric material, followed by a metal-containingelectrode material 226B and a further metal-containing electrodematerial 227B, wherein it should be appreciated that the material systemof the gate electrode structure 220B may have any appropriateconfiguration so as to comply with the previous processing and therequirements of the transistor 250B. As discussed before, this materialsystem may also be provided in a more or less pronounced manner abovethe contact elements 231. It should be appreciated that the materials225A, 225B may have substantially the same material composition, exceptfor any work function metals and the like, and also the electrodematerials 227A, 227B may have the same material composition. On theother hand, the layer or layers 226A, 226B may differ in order to obtaindifferent work functions and thus threshold voltages, as required.

In some illustrative embodiments, the further processing may becontinued by using the material systems 225A, 226A, 227A and 225B, 226B,227B, respectively formed above the contact elements 231, as a part ofthese contact elements, as long as a reliable electrical isolation ofthe contact elements 231 and the corresponding gate electrode structures220A, 220B is guaranteed. In other cases, material may be removed so asto reduce the height of the gate electrode structures 220A, 220B,thereby significantly reducing the probability of creating any leakagecurrent paths.

FIG. 2 k schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 200 in anadvanced manufacturing stage, in which the height of the gate electrodestructures 220A, 220B may be reduced by performing any appropriatematerial removal process, such as a CMP process, thereby also removingthe conductive materials from above the contact elements 231. During thecorresponding removal process, the metal silicide material 231S may actas an efficient stop material so that a top surface 220S of the adjacentgate electrode structure 220A, 220B, respectively, may be approximatelyat the same height level as the top surface 231D of the metal silicidematerial 231S. In this respect, the term “approximately” is to beunderstood that a height difference of the surfaces 220S and 231D is 10nm or less. Consequently, by using the metal silicide material 231S as astop material, any metal residues may be efficiently removed from theinterlayer dielectric material 212, however, without contributing toundue topography non-uniformities. Moreover, well-defined electroniccharacteristics in terms of conductivity of the gate electrodestructures 220A, 220B may be achieved, while at the same time thefringing capacitance may be reduced in a well controllable manner, sincethe final height of the gate electrode structures is determined byprevious well controllable processes, such as a selective epitaxialgrowth process and a silicidation process.

It should be appreciated that the stop capabilities of the silicidematerial 231S may further be increased, for instance, by providing acertain degree of platinum upon forming the metal silicide 231S.

Consequently, the transistors 250A, 250B may be provided with anindividually adjusted strain-inducing semiconductor material, which maybe provided in a late manufacturing stage and which may thus allowforming the initial gate electrode structures 220A, 220B with a highdegree of process uniformity. Furthermore, by providing the metalsilicide material 231S prior to actually applying the replacement gateapproach, superior process conditions, for instance for exposing theplace\holder material and adjusting the desired final gate height, mayalso be achieved.

As a result, the present disclosure provides semiconductor devices andmanufacturing techniques in which extremely complex processes, such as areplacement gate approach and the incorporation of an embeddedstrain-inducing semiconductor material in active regions of transistors,may be “combined” in order to provide superior process efficiency and/ordevice performance. In the various embodiments disclosed, theincorporation of a strain-inducing material may be achievedindependently from the provision of the initial gate electrodestructure, thereby providing superior process uniformity.

The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as theinvention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalentmanners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings herein. For example, the process steps set forth above may beperformed in a different order. Furthermore, no limitations are intendedto the details of construction or design herein shown, other than asdescribed in the claims below. It is therefore evident that theparticular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified andall such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of theinvention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth inthe claims below.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device, comprising: asemiconductor region comprising an embedded strain-inducingsemiconductor alloy formed at least partially in drain and sourceregions; a gate electrode structure formed on a portion of saidsemiconductor region, said gate electrode structure comprising ametal-containing electrode material and a high-k dielectric material;and contact areas formed above said strain-inducing semiconductor alloyand comprising a metal silicide having a top surface at a height thatsubstantially corresponds to a height of a top surface of saidmetal-containing electrode material.
 2. The semiconductor device ofclaim 1, further comprising: a second semiconductor region comprising anembedded second strain-inducing semiconductor alloy formed at leastpartially in second drain and source regions; and a second gateelectrode structure formed on a portion of said second semiconductorregion and comprising a second metal-containing electrode material and asecond high-k dielectric material, wherein said embedded secondstrain-inducing semiconductor alloy differs from said embeddedstrain-inducing semiconductor alloy.
 3. A semiconductor devicecomprising: a semiconductor region of a first transistor comprising astrain-inducing semiconductor alloy and a strained semiconductormaterial laterally enclosed by said strain-inducing semiconductor alloy,said strained semiconductor material and said strain-inducingsemiconductor alloy differing in material composition; and a gateelectrode structure formed on a portion of said semiconductor region,said gate electrode structure comprising a metal-containing electrodematerial, a high-k dielectric material and a spacer structure that isaligned to said strained semiconductor material.
 4. The semiconductordevice of claim 3, further comprising: a second semiconductor region ofa second transistor comprising a second strain-inducing semiconductoralloy and a second strained semiconductor material laterally enclosed bysaid second strain-inducing semiconductor alloy, wherein said secondsemiconductor material and said second strain-inducing semiconductormaterial differ in material composition; and a second gate electrodestructure formed on a portion of said second semiconductor region,wherein said second gate electrode structure comprises a secondmetal-containing electrode material, a second high-k dielectric materialand a second spacer structure that is aligned to said second strainedsemiconductor material.
 5. The semiconductor device of claim 3, whereinsaid strain-inducing semiconductor alloy is positioned at leastpartially in drain and source regions of said first transistor and saidstrained semiconductor material is positioned at least partially in achannel region of said first transistor.
 6. The semiconductor device ofclaim 3, wherein a bottom of said strained semiconductor materialextends to a depth level in said semiconductor region that is below adepth level of a bottom of said strain-inducing semiconductor alloy. 7.The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein said semiconductor regioncomprises a semiconductor material layer that is positioned below saidstrain-inducing semiconductor alloy.
 8. The semiconductor device ofclaim 7, wherein said semiconductor material layer is positioned above aburied insulating material.
 9. The semiconductor device of claim 4,wherein said second strain-inducing semiconductor alloy is positioned atleast partially in drain and source regions of said second transistorand said second strained semiconductor material is positioned at leastpartially in a channel region of said second transistor.
 10. Thesemiconductor device of claim 4, wherein a bottom of said secondstrained semiconductor material extends to a depth level in said secondsemiconductor region that is below a depth level of a bottom of saidsecond strain-inducing semiconductor alloy.
 11. The semiconductor deviceof claim 4, wherein said strain-inducing semiconductor alloy comprisessilicon and carbon and said second strain-inducing semiconductor alloycomprises silicon and germanium.
 12. The semiconductor device of claim4, wherein said first transistor is an N-channel transistor and saidsecond transistor is a P-channel transistor.
 13. A semiconductor devicecomprising: an isolation structure laterally isolating an active regionof said semiconductor device; a plurality of transistor elementspositioned in and above said active region, each of said plurality oftransistor elements comprising a gate electrode structure that comprisesa high-k gate dielectric material and a metal-containing electrodematerial; and a plurality of material regions, each comprising: a lowerstrain-inducing portion that is embedded in one of a source region and adrain region of a respective one of said plurality of transistorelements, said lower strain-inducing portion comprising a firstsemiconductor material; and an upper contact portion that extends abovesaid active region, said upper contact portion comprising a secondsemiconductor material and a metal silicide, wherein a height level of atop surface of said upper contact portion substantially corresponds to aheight level of a top surface of said metal-containing electrodematerial.
 14. The semiconductor device of claim 13, wherein each of saidplurality of transistor elements has a same conductivity type.
 15. Thesemiconductor device of claim 13, wherein a composition of said firstsemiconductor material is substantially the same as a composition ofsaid second semiconductor material.
 16. The semiconductor device ofclaim 13, wherein said first and semiconductor materials comprisesilicon and germanium.
 17. The semiconductor device of claim 16, whereina germanium content of said first semiconductor material is greater thana germanium content of said second semiconductor material in at leastpart of said upper contact portion.
 18. The semiconductor device ofclaim 13, wherein said metal silicide is positioned at said top surfaceof said upper contact portion.
 19. The semiconductor device of claim 13,wherein said upper contact portion further comprises said high-kdielectric material and said metal containing electrode material. 20.The semiconductor device of claim 19, wherein said metal-containingelectrode material of said upper contact portion is positioned at saidtop surface of said upper contact portion.